in good Sureties as Esquires or Gentlemen And that no pardon were granted but by Parliament Thirdly For that the King hath granted Pardons of Felonies upon false Suggestions it is provided that every Charter of Felony which shall be granted at the Suggestion of any the name of him that maketh the Suggestion shall be comprised in the Charter and if the Suggestion be found untrue the Charter shall be disallowed And the like provision is made by the Statute of 5. H. 4. Cap 2. for the Pardon of an Approver Fourthly It is provided that no Charter of Pardon for Murder Treason or Rape shall be allowed c. If they be not specified in the same Charter Statute 13. R 2. Before this Statute of 13. R 2. by the Pardon of all Felonies Treason was Pardoned and so was Murder c. At this day by the Pardon of all Felonies the death of man is not Pardoned These be excellent Laws for direction and for the Peace of the Realm But it hath been conceived which we will not question that the King may dispence with these Laws by a Non Obstante notwithstanding be it General or Special albeit we find not any such Clauses of non Obstante notwithstanding to dispense with any of these Statutes but of late times These Statutes are excellent Instructions for a Religious and Prudent King to follow for in these Cases Vt summae potestatis Regiae est posse quantum velit sic Magnitudinis est velle quantum possit As it is the highest Kingly power to be able to Act what he Wills so it is his Greatness and Nobleness to Will only what he lawfully can Hereof you may Read more in Justice Standford Lib. 2. Cap. 35. in diverse places of that Chapter of his grave Advice in that behalf Most certain it is that the Word of God has set down this undisputable General Rule Quia non profetur Cito Contra malos sententia filii hominum sine timore ullo perpetrant because Sentence against evil men is not speedily Executed therefore the hearts of the Children of men are set in them to do evil And thereupon the Rule of Law is grounded Spes Impunitatis Continuum Affectum tribuit delinquendi the hope of Impunity encourageth Offenders Et veniae facilitas Incentivum est Delinquendi and the facility of obtaining Pardon is an Incentive to Commit Offences This is to be Added that the Intention of the said Act of 13. R. 2. Was not that the King should grant a Pardon of Murder by express Name in the Charter but because the whole Parliament conceived that he would neuer Pardon Murder by special Name for the Causes aforesaid therefore that provision made which was as in other Cases I have observed grounded upon the Law of God Quicunque effuderit humanum sanguinem fundetur sanguis illius ad imaginem quippe Dei creatus est homo nec aliter Expiati potest nisi per ejus sanguinem qui alterius sanguinem effuderit whosoever shall shed mans blood by man also shall his blood be shed because man was Created after the Image of God neither can it be expiated otherwise then by his blood who spilt the blood of another And the words of every Pardon is after the Recital of the offence nos pietate moti c. we being moved with Piety c. But it can be no Piety to violate an express Law of God by letting Murder scape unpunisht Thus Coke whereby we see what opinion he had of such Pardons A brief digression concerning the Nature of APPEALS THis Discourse of Pardons puts us in mind of another kind of Legal Prosecution called an Appeal of which it may be very convenient to give the Reader some brief account You must know then for several Offences for which a man deserveth death and particularly for Murder there are two ways to bring him to Answer for the same one by Indictment which is at the Kings Suit and the other by Appeal which is at the Suit of a Party which is wronged or injured by the Murder as a Woman whose Husband or a Child or Brother whose Father or Brother is Killed Now upon an Indictment if the Offender be found Guilty because it s to be at the Suit of the King it has been said by some may be and too often a Pardon has been obtained tho even That too be against Law as appears by the Premisses But in an Appeal all agree the King can grant no Pardon Nay if a person be tryed by Indictment and Acquitted or Convicted and get a Pardon yet an Appeal may be brought and if he be thereupon Convicted notwithstanding such his former Acquital or Pardon he must be Hanged The word Appeal is derived from the French Verb Appeller to Call because he or she that brings it Calls the Defendant to Judgment but the meaning thereof is all one with An Accusation And is peculiarly in Legal signification applyed to Appeals of Three sorts First an Appeal brought by an Heir Male for some wrong done to his Ancestor whose Heir he is Secondly Of wrong done to an Husband and is by the Wife only if it be for the death of her Husband to be Prosecuted The third is of wrongs done to the Appellants themselvess as for Robbery Rape or Maim Coke 1. Instit Sect. 500. Note that this Appeal must be brought within a year and a day after the Murder is committed For afterwards it cannot be brought at all And antiently it was customary not to bring an Indictment for the King till after the year and the day waiting in the mean time for the Prosecution of the Party but this was found very inconvenient for the Party was frequently compounded with and at the years end the business was forgot and so Offenders escaped Justice And therefore the same was altered by the Statute 3. Hen. 7. Cap. 1. Whereby it is Enacted That the Coroner shall do his Office and the Offenders may be Arraigned at any time within the year at the Kings Suit but if Acquitted yet the party within the year and day should have liberty to bring an Appeal against such person either Acquitted or Attainted if the benefit of the Clergy be not before thereof had And in order thereunto that when any person happened to be Acquitted for the death of a man within the year the Justices before whom he is Acquitted shall not suffer him to go at large but either to remit him again to the Prison or else to let him to Bail after their discretion till that the day and the year be passed that so he may be forth coming to Answer an Appeal if it shall happen to be brought Thus that Statute as to the latter Clause whereof you see the Judges have power in Case of Acquittal to keep the Party in Prison still till the day and year be over Or else to admit him to Bail and tho this be left to their Discretion yet it must
or make payment in deceit of our said Lord the King and of his People 7. And if a Man Slay the Chancellor Treasurer or the Kings Justice of the one Bench or the other Justices in Eyre or Justices of Assize and all other Justices Assigned to Hear and Determine being in their Places doing their Offices 8. And it is to be understood that in the Cases above rehearsed that ought to be judged Treason which extends to our Lord the King and of his Royal Majesty 9. And of such Treason the Forfeiture of the Escheats pertaineth to our Lord as well of the Lands and Tenement holden of other as of himself 10. And moreover there is another manner of Treason that is to say when a Servant slayeth his Master or a Wife her Husband or when a Man Secular or Religious slayeth his Prelate to whom he oweth Faith and Obedience 11. And of such Treason the Escheats cught to pertain to every Lord of his own Fee 12. And because that many other like Cases of Treason may happen in time to come which a man cannot think nor declare at this present time it is Accorded That if any other Case supposed Treason which is not above specified doth happen before any Justices the Justices shall tarry without any going to Judgment of the Treason till the Cause be shewed and declared before the King and his Parliament whether it ought to be judged Treason or other Felony 13. And if percase any Man of this Realm Ride Armed covertly or secret with Men of Arms against any other to Slay him or Rob him or Take him or Retain him till he hath made Fine or Ransome for to have his deliverance it is not the mind of the King nor his Council that in such Case it shall be judged Treason but shall be judged Felony or Trespass according to the Laws of the Land of old time used and according as the Case requireth 14. And if in such Case or other like before this time any Justices have judged Treason and for this cause the Lands and Tenements have come into the Kings hands as forfeit the chief Lords of the Fee shall have the Escheats of the Tenements holden of them whether that the same Tenements be in the Kings hands or in others by Gift or in other manner 15. Saving always to our Lord the King the Year and the Waste and the sorfeitures of Chattels which pertain to him in the Cases above named 16. And that the Writs of Scire Facias be granted in such Case against the Land-Tenants without other Original and without allowing any Protection in the said Suit 17. And that of the Lands which be in the Kings hands Writs be granted to the Sheriffs of the Counties where the Lands be to deliver them out of the Kings hands without delay The Comment TReason is derived from Trabir which signifies Treacherously to betray when it concerns the Government and the Publick 't is called High Treason but against particular Persons as a Wife killing her Husband a Servant his Master c. it is Petty Treason High Treason in the Civil Law is called Crimen Laesae Majestatis a Crime wronging Majesty but in our Common-Law-Latine Alta proditio and in an Indictment for this offence the word Proditorie must be in Before the making this Act so many things were charged as High Treason That no Man knew how to behave himself Now by this Statute the particulars of that Grand Crime are reckoned up and all others excluded till declared by Parliament And the settling of this Affair was esteemed of such Importance to the Publick-Weal That the Parliament wherein this Act passed was called long after Benedictum Parliamentum the Blessed Parliament The substance of this Statute is branched out by my Lord Cook 3d. part of Instit. Fol. 3. into six Heads viz. The first concerning Death by compassing or imagining the death of the King Queen or Prince and declaring the same by some Overt Deed. By killing and murdering of the Chancellor Treasurer Justices of either Bench Justices in Eyre Justices of Assize Justices of Oier and Terminer In their Places doing their Offices The second is to Violate that is to Carnally know the Queen the Kings Eldest Daughter unmarried the Princes Wife The third is Levying War against the King The fourth is Adhering to the Kings Enemies within the Realm or without and declaring the same by some overt Act. The fifth is Counterfeiting of the Great the Privy Seal or the Kings Coin The sixth and last by bringing into this Realm Counterfeit Mony to the likeness of the Kings Coin Now as to the particular Exposition of the several parts of this Statute 1. When a man doth compass c. in the Original it is Quant Home which extends to both Sexes but one that is Non compos mentis or an Infant within the Age of discretion is not included but all Allens within the Realm of England being thereby under the Kings Protection and owing a Local Allegiance if they commit Treason may be punisht by this Act but otherwise it is of an Enemy 2. To compass and Imagine Is to contrive design or intend the death of the King but this must be declared by some Overt Act. But declaring by an open Act a design to Depose or Imprison the King is an Over Act to manifest the compassing his death For they that will depose their King will not stick to Murder him rather than fail of their end and as King Charles the First excellently observed and lamentably experienced There are commonly but few steps between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes 3. By the word King is intended 1. A King before his Coronation as soon as ever the Crown descends upon him for the Coronation is but a Ceremony 2. A King de Facto and not de Jure is a King within this Act and a Treason against him is punishable thô the Right Heir get the Crown 3. A Titular King as the Husband of the Queen is not a King within this Act but the Queen is for the word King here includes both Sexes 4. What is to be understood by the Kings Eldest Son and Heir within this Act I answer 1. A second Son after the death of the first Born is within the Act for he is then Eldest Secondly The Eldest Son of a Queen Regnant is as well within the Statute as of a King Thirdly The Collateral Heir Apparent or Presumptive is not within this Statute Roger Mortimer Earl of March was in Anno Dom. 1487. 11 Rich. 2. Proclaimed Heir Apparent Anno 39. Hen. 6. Richard Duke of York was likewise Proclaimed Heir Apparent and so was John de la Poolen Earl of Lincoln by Rich. 3. And Henry Marquess of Exeter by King Henry the 8. But none of these or the like are within the Purview of this Statute saith my Lord Coke 3 Instit fol. 9. 5. Note Whereas in the Printed Statute-Books it is there
the Chancellor without Warrant is no Treason Fixing a new Great Seal to another Patent is a great Misprision but no Treason being not a Counterfeiting within this Act But Aiders and Consenters are within this Act. The Counterfeiting of the Privy Signet or Sign Manual is no Treason within this Act but made by the Statute 1. Mar. c. 6. 10. Treason concerning Coin is either Counterfeiting the Kings Coin and this was Treason at Common Law and Judgment only as of Pettit Treason but Clipping c being made Treason by subsequent Statutes the Judgment is to be Drawn Hang'd and Quarter'd Money here extends only to the Proper Money of this Realm But now by the 1. M. c. 6. Forging or Counterfeiting Money made current by Proclamation is High Treason and by 14. Eliz. c. 3. Forging of Forreign Coin not current here is Misprision of Treason in the Forgers their Aiders and Abettors And not that the bare Forging of the Kings Coin without Uttering is Treason The second Offence concerning Money here declared to be Treason is If any person bring into this Realm Counterfeit Money Where note 1. It must be Counterfeit 2. Counterfeited to the similitude of English Money 3. It must be brought from a Forreign Realm and therefore not from Ireland 4. It must be brought knowingly 5. Brought and not barely uttered here But by the Statute De Moneta if false or clipt money be found in a persons hands and he be suspitious he may be Arrested till he can clear himself 6. He must merchandize therewith that is make payment thereof 11. As this Statute leaves all other doubtful matters to be declared Treason in Parliameâ—t but not to be punish'd as such till so declared So in succeeding Kings Reigns abundance of other matters were declared Treason which being found very grievous and dangerous by the Statute of 1 Mar. Cap. 1. it is Enacted That thenceforth no Act Deed or Offence being by Act of Parliament or Statute made Treason Petty Treason or Misprision of Treason by Words Writing Ciphering Deeds or otherwise however shall be taken had Deemed or Adjudged to be High-Treason Petty Treason or Misprision of Treason but only such as be declared and expressed to be Treason Petty Treason or Misprision of Treason by this Statute of the 25. Edw. 3. 12. The Offences made High Treason by Statutes since this first of Mary are as follow Refusing the Oath of Supremacy upon second Tender is Treason by 5. Eliz. Cap. 1. but no Corruption of Blood so likewise is Extolling the Power of the Bishop of Rome a Premunire and the bringing in of Bulls or putting them in Execution or Reconciling to the Church of Rome is Treason by the same Statute Bringing in Dei's is a Premunire 23. Eliz. C. 1. Also absolving Subjects from their Obedience or Reconciling them to the Obedience of Rome is Treason 27. Eliz. Cap. 2. So is it likewise for a Priest coming into England not submiting in two days The like for English men in Forreign Seminaries But Besides these Old Treasons since the happy Retâ—uration of His Majesty The zealous regards his Subjects in Parliament had for the safety of his Sacred Person and Government thought sit to prefer and make the Statute following Anno Regni Car. 2. Regis decimo tertio CAP. I. An Act for Safety and Preservation of His Majesties Person and Government against Treasonable and Soditious Practises and Attempts THe Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament deeply Weighing and Considering the Miseries and Calamities of well high twenty years before your Majesties Happy Return and withâ—l Reflecting on the Causes and Occasions of so great and diplorable Confusions do in all humility and thankfulness acknowledge your Majesties incomparable Grace and Goodness to your People in your Free and General Pardon Indempnity and Oblivion by which roar Majesty hath been pleased to deliver your Subjects not only from the Punishment but also from the Reproach of their former Miâ—carringes which unexempted Piety and Clemency of your Majestie hath Enflamed the Hearts of us your Subjects with an ardent desire to express all possible Zeal and Duty in the Care and Preservation of your Majesties Person in whose Honour and Happiness consists the good and welfare of your people and in preventing as much as may be all Treasonable and Sedititious Practises and Attempts for the time to come 2 And because the Growth and Increase of the late Troubles and Disorders did in a very great measure proceed from a multitude of Seditious Sermons Pamphlets and Speeches daily Preached Printed and Published with a Transcendent boldness defaming the Person and Government of your Majesty and your Royal Father wherein men were too much Encouraged and above all from a wilful mistake of the Supream and Lawful Authority whilst men were forward to cry up and maintain those Orders and Ordinances Oaths and Covenants to be Acts Legal and Warrantable which in themselves had not the least Colour of Law or Justice to support them from which kind of Distempers as the present Age is not wholly freed so Posterity may be apt to Relapse into them if a timely Remedy be not provided 3 We therefore the Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled having duly considered the Premisses and Remembring that in the thirteenth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth of ever blessed Memory a right good and profitable Law was made for Preservation of Her Majesties Person do most humbly beseech your most Excellent Majesty that it may be Enacted 4 And be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same That if any Person or Persons whatsoever after the four and twentieth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred sixty and one during the Natural Life of our most Gracious Soveraign Lord the King whom God Almighty Preserve and Bless with a Long and Prosperous Reign shall within the Realm or without Compass Imagine Invent Devise or intend Death or Destruction or any Bodily Harm tending to the Death or Destruction Maim or Wounding Imprisonment or Restraint of the Person of the same our Soveraign Lord the King 5 Or to deprive or depose him from the Style Honour or Kingly Name of the Imperial Crown of this Realm or of any other His Majesties Dominions or Countries 6 To Levy War against His Majesty within this Realm or without 7 Or to move or stir any Forraigner and Strangers with force to Invade this Realm or any other His Majesties Dominions or Countries being under His Majesties Obeysance 8. And such Compassings Imaginations Inventions Devices or Intentions or any of them shall express utter or declare by any Printing Writing Preaching or malicious and advised Speaking being Lawfully Convicted thereof upon the Oaths of two Lawful and Credible Witnesses upon Tryal or otherwise Convicted or Attainted by due Course of Law then every
whereupon he demanded Judgment whether the Plaintiffe ought to maintain that Appeal he had brought To which the Plaintiffe demurred in Law And in this Case three points were adjudged by Sir Christopher Wray Sir Thomas Gawdy and the whole Court First That the matter of the Bar had been a good Bar of the Appeal by the Common Law as well as if the Clergy had been Allowed For that the Defendant upon his Confession of the Indictment had prayed his Clergy which the Court ought to have granted and the deferring of the Court to be advised ought not to prejudice the Party Desendant albeit the Appeal was Commenced before the Allowance of it The second point adjudged was that this Case was out of the Statute of 3 Hen. 7. For that the words of that Act are If it fortune that the same Felons and Murderers and Accessaries so Arraigned or any of them to be Acquitted or the Principal of the said Felony or any of them to be Attainted the Wife or next Heir of him so slain c. may have their Appeal of the same Death and Murder against the Person so Acquitted or against the said Principals so Attainted if they be alive and that THE BENEFIT OF HIS CLERGY THEREOF before be not had And in this the Defendant Holcroft was neither Acquitted nor Attainted but Convicted by Confession and the Benefit of the Clergy only prayed as is aforesaid so as the Statute being penal concerning the Life of Man and made in Restraint of the Common Law was not to be taken by Equity but is Casus Omissus a Case Omitted and left to the Common Law As to the Third is was objected that every Plea ought to have an apt Conclusion and that the Conclusion in this Case ought to have been Et petit judicium si praediit Thomas Holcroft Iterum de eadem morte de qua semel Convictus fuit Respondere compelli debeat And he does ask judgment if the above mentione Thomas Holcroft shall be obliged to answer againe for the same death he was once Convicted of But it was adjudged that either of both Conclusions was sufficient in Law And therefore that exception was disallowed by the Rule of the Court. Note the ancient Law was that when a Man had judgment to be hanged in an Appeal of Death that the Wife and all the Blood of the Party slain should draw the Defendant to Execution and Gascoigne said Issint fuit in diebus nostris so it was done in our Days And thus much occasionally about Appeals which we the rather inserted because the practice thereof through I know not whose negligence has been almost lost or forgot till some few Years ago a Woman in Southwark revived it against one that killed her Husband and got a pardon for it but she Prosecuted him on Appeal had judgment against him and he was Executed since which time the same Course has been frequently talkt of and brought but for the most part to the shame I think of those Women or Children who make such Compositions for their Husbands or Fathers Blood they have been by some secret Bargains or Compensations husht up and seldom effectually followed Two other Statutes of King Edw. 3. Anno 4. Edw. 3. cap. 14. A Parliament shall be holden once every year ITem It is accorded that a Parliament shall be holden every year once and more often if need be Anno 36. Edw. 3. cap. 10. A Parliament shall be holden once in the year ITem for maintenance of the said Articles and Statutes and Redress of dibers MISCHIEFS and GRIEVANCES which daily happen a Parliament shall be holden every year as another time was ordained by Statute The Comment BEfore the Conquest as the Victory of Duke William of Normandy over Harold the Usurper is commonly though very improperly called Parliaments were to be held twice every year as appears by the Laws of King Edgar cap. 5. and the Testimony of the Mirrour of Justices cap. 1. sect 3. For the Estates of the Realm King Alfred caused the Committees some English Translations of that ancient Book read Earls but the word seems rather to signifie Commissioners Trustees or Representatives to meet and ordained for a PERPETUAL USAGE that twice in the year or ostner if need were in time of Peace they should Assemble at London to speak their Minds for the guiding of the People of God how they should keep themselves from Offences live in quiet and have right done them by certain Vsages and sound Judgments King Edward the first says Cook 4. Instit fol. 97. kept a Parliament once every two years for the most part And now in this King Edward the Thirds time one of the wisest and most glorious of all our Kings It was thought fit to Enact by these two several Statutes That a Parliament should be held once at least every year which two Statutes are to this day in full Force For they are not Repealed but rather Confirmed by the Statute made in the 16th of our present Soveraign King Charles the Second Cap. 1. Intituled An Act for the Assembling and holding of Parliaments once in three years at the least The words of which are as follow Because by the ancient Laws and Statutes of this Realm made in the Reign of King Edward the third Parliaments are to be held very often your Majesties Humble and Loyal Subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled most Humbly do beseech your most Excellent Majesty that it may be declared and Enacted 2 And be it declared and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that hereafter the sitting and holding of Parliaments shall not be intermitted or discontinued above Three Years at the most but that within three years from and after the Determination of this present Parliament so from time to time within three years after the Determination of and other Parliament or Parliaments or if there be occasion more or oftner Your Majesty your Heirs and Successors do Issue out your Writs for calling Assembling and holding of another Parliament to the end there may be a frequent calling Assembling and holding of Parliaments once in three years at the least Agreeable to these good and wholsome Laws are those gracious Expressions and Promises in His Majesties Proclamation touching the Causes and Reasons of Dissolving the two last Parliaments Dated April 8. 1681. Irregularities in Parliament shall NEVER make us out of love with Parliaments which we look upon as the best Method for healing the distempers of the Kingdom and the only means to preserve the Monarchy in that due Credit and Respect which it ought to have both at home and abroad And for this Cause we are resolved by the blessing of God to have frequent Parliaments And both in and out of Parliament to use OUR UTMOST ENDEAVOURS TO EXTIRPATE POPERY and to Redress all the Grievances of our good Subjects and in all things to Govern according to the
an Author to whom I do not much desire to be beholden Some Senators are drawn from their duties by Pleasure perhaps a party at Tennis Bowles Cards a pack of Dogs a Cock-Fight or a Horse-match a Comedy a Good Fellow or a Mistress And while they are thus employed the Vigilant faction steals a Vote that is worth a Kingdom Some again are so transported with the Vanity of Dress and Language that rather then serve the publick with one hair amiss or in one broken Period they 'l let the publick perish Mallent Rempublicam turbari quam capillos These while their Country lies at Stake are ordering of their heads and Polishing the Phrase shaping the parts of a Set-Speech till it is too late to use it Nothing methinks does less beseem a Grave Assembly then this Facultatula Loquendi this same Rhetorical Twittle-twattle it spins out so much time in tedious Circumstance that it makes a man e'en sick of a good Cause and for the very form prejudge the Reason of it Sloth and Neglect are yet more dangerous in a Senator in regard of Surprizes from the Faction these think a wet day or a cold morning a sufficient discharge of their Attendance and while they are taking t'other Napp or t'other Bottle the Monarch perhaps has lost his Crown or the Subject his Liberty 9. Avoid all those that play the Protestants in Design and are indeed disguised Papists ready to pull off their mask on the first opportunity whenever time serves You may know them by their swaggering for a Popish Successor to maintain the Protestant Religion Their Laughing at the Popish Plot and disgracing the Evidence of it and at the same time affirming without any grounds the reality of a Presbyterian Plot their associating with known Papists and winking at them but eager heats to put the Laws in Execution with the utmost rigour upon Protestant Dissenters These are men whose affection for the Protestant Interest notwithstanding all their fair Speeches may justly be question'd since their practice gives their words the Lye nor will their large pretensions and seeming zeal for the Church of England at all prevail with wise men for we know the Papists themselves when 't is for their Interest will pretend the same thing and speak fair of our Church and rail only upon the Fanaticks when yet in their hearts they hate our Church as much as they do any of the Sects Observe all their Pamphlets the noise is against the Presbyterians and Dissenters but 't is with a design to destroy them first and the Church of England afterwards for when so great a body of Protestants are represented as Disloyal and Dangerous and Crusht and undone the Church of England-men will be left alone and then they hope to deal with them well enough and that this is their aim may be perceiv'd if you observe how zealous the Papists are to stirr up Prosecution against the Dissenters and none more Joyful when it goes on c. Now what 's all this for are they think you indeed and in earnest so very kind to the Church of England for what acqualntance No no 't is all Dissimulation and Roguery a Design which they drive on first to divide and then to ruine us Therefore beware how you chuse any such Tool as they make use of therein The contrary are men that bless God for the most happy discovery of the Hellish Popish Plot and all their wicked shams ever since and would have the bottom thereof fairly searcht into and the Traitors though never so great or potent brought to Condign punishment and in their Conversation zealously direct themselves in an Opposition to the Papal Interest which indeed is a combination against good Sense Reason and Conscience and to Introduce a blind Obedience without if not against Conviction And that Principle which Introduces Implicite Faith and blind Obedience in Religion will also Introduce Implicite Faith and blind Obedience in Government so that it shall be no more the Law in the one than in the other but the will and power of the Superiour that shall be the Rule and Bond of our Subjection this is that fatal mischief Popery brings with it to Civil Society and for which all such Societies ought to beware of it and its friends and Abetters which sure none can be but such who are design'd for Slaves by Nature as well as Fortune debaucht lew'd unthinking Animals properly enough called Tories Silly Servile yet conceited and Cruel Creatures altogether of an Irish understanding 10. As for you Citizens Burgesses and Freemen of Cities and Corporations in particular I shall only say That whoever is not fit to be chosen Knight of the Shire is likewise unfit to be chosen a Burgess Neither let the more specious pretences of any man that shall promise to build you a Town-Hall or Relieve you poor with mony or out of his Adjacent Woods or any such Good-morrows deceive you for if so wherein are you wiser than your Horses whom you catch every day and Clap a Bridle into their mouths only by shewing them a few Oats which they are never like to Eat Even the very Mice are too wise to be taken by an Old Bait but will first have the trap â—ew baited before they 'le meddle And yet I have known a Corporation which has been taken TWICE by the same bait But suppose these men do really perform what they promise what Compensation is that if the same men should lay a good Swinging Tax upon your Estates without any real cause or should give up the very power you have of Taxing yourselves or sending your Representatives in Parliament for one bad Parliament may ruiue us what good would the money for your Poor do in such a case more than that when you are thereby reduced to beggery you might perhaps yourselves the Gentry of the Country having no reason to releive you be forc'd to comein for a small share of this their Hypocrital Charity An excellent Reward for Knavish Folly Neither say Oh! this is but one man and can have but one Vote he will do our Town a great deal of good and can do us but little hurt if he would c. For 1. as I told you before one or two Voices have sometimes carried a Vote of great Importance 2. You know not what mischief your bad example may do in other Corporations and if all should do so what a miserable case would you be in Since the Voices of the Boroughs make two thirds of the House Lastly no man can tell the Influence that one running Talkative Ill-man may get over the rest of the House especially over those that weigh words more than Sense or Reason and the Interest of their Countrey Hitherto we have talked Negatives and described such as are not fit to be Chosen Now we came positively to set before you who are fit for such a Trust especially in such a dangerous Juncture as we are faln into In
own Bond to pay the Charges of carrying back the Prisoner if he shall be Remanded by the Court or Judge to which he shall be brought according to the true intent of this present Act and that he will not make any Escape by the way make Return of such Writ 3 And bring or cause to be brought the Body of the party so Committed or Restrained unto or before the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England for the time being or the Judges or Barons of the said Court from whence the said Writ shall Issue or unto and before such other person or persons before whom the said Writ is made returnable according to the Command thereof 4 And shall then likewise certifie the true Causes of his Detainer or Imprisonment unless the Commitment of the said party be in any place beyond the distance of twenty Miles from the place or places where such Court or Person is or shall be Residing and if beyond the distance of twenty Miles and not above one hundred Miles than within the space of twenty days after such the delivery aforesaid and not longer III. And to the Intent that no Sheriff Goaler or other Officer may pretend ignorance of the import of any such Writ 2 Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all such Writs shall be marked in this manner Perstatutum Tricesimo primo Caroli Secundi Regis and shall be signed by the person that Awards the same 3 And if any person or persons shall be or stand Committed or Detained as aforesaid for any Crime unless for Felâ—ny or Treason plainly expressed in the Warrant of Commitment in the Vacation time and out of Term it shall and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so Committed or Detained other than persons Convict or in Execution by Legal Process or any one on his or their behalf to Appeal or complain to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or any one of His Majesties Justices either of the one Bench or of the other or the Barons of the Exchequer of the degree of the Coif 3 And the said Lord Chancellor Lord Keeper Instices or Barons or any of them upon view of the Copy or Copies of the Warrant or Warrants of Commitment and Detainer or otherwise upon Oath made that such Copy or Copies were denied to be given by such person or persons or any on his her or their behalf attested and subscribed by two Witnesses who were present at the delivery of the same to award and grant an Habeas Corpus under the Seal of such Court whereof he shall then be one of the Judges 5 To be directed to the Officer or Officers in whose Custody the party so Committed or Detained shall be returnable immediately before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justice Baron or any other Justice or Baron of the Degree of the Coif of any of the said Courts 6 And upon service thereof as aforesaid the Officer or Officers his or their under Officer or under Officers under Keeper or under Keepers or Deputy to whose Custody the party is so Committed or Detained shall within the times respectively before limited bring such Prisoner or Prisoners before the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justices Barons or one of them before whom the said Writ is made Return able and in case of his absence before any other of them with the Return of such Writ and the true Causes of the Commitment and Detainer 7 And thereupon within two days after the party shall be brought before them the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or such Justice or Baron before whom the Prisoner shall be brought as aforesaid shall discharge the said Prisoner from his Imprisonment taking his or their Recognizance with one or more surety or sureties in any sum according to their discretion having regard to the Quality of the Prisoner and Nature of the Offence for his or their appearance in the Court of Kings Bench the Term following or at the next Assizes Sessions or General Goal-delivery of and for such County City or Place where the Commitment was or where the Offence was Committed or in such other Court where the said Offence is properly Recognizable as the Case shall require and then shall Certifie the said Writ with the Return thereof and the said Recognizance or Recognizances into the said Court where such appearance is to be made 6 Unless it shall appear unto the said Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper or Justice or Justices Baron or Barons that the party so Committed is Detained upon a Legal Process Order or Warrant out of some Court that hath Jurisdiction of Criminal matters or by some Warrant Signed and Sealed with the Hand and Seal of any of the said Justices or Barons or some Justice or Justices of the Peace for such matters or offences for the which by the Law the Prisoner is not Bailable IV. Provided always and be it Enacted That if any person shall have wilfully neglected by the space of two whole Terms after his Imprisonment to pray a Habeas Corpus for his Enlargement such person so wilfully neglecting shall not have any Habeas Corpus to be granted in Vacation time in pursuance of this Act. V. Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Officer or Officers his or their Under-Officer Under-Officers Under-Keeper or Under-Keepers or Deputy shall neglect or Refuse to make the Returns aforesaid or to Bring the Body or Bodies of the Prisoner or Prisoners according to the Command of the said Writ within the Respective times aforesaid or upon demand made by the Prisoner or Person in his Behalf shall Resuse to deliver or within the space of six hours after demand shall not deliver to the Person so demanding a true Copy of the Warrant or Warrants of Commitment and detainer of such Prisoner which he or they are hereby Required to deliver accordingly all and every the Head Gaolers and Keepers of such Prisons and such other Person in whose Custody the Prisoner shall be detained shall for the first Offence forfeit to the Prisoner or Party Grieved the sum of one hundred pounds 2. And for the second Offence the sum of two hundred pounds and shall and is hereby made Incapable to Hold or Execute his said Office 3. the said penalties to be Recovered by the Prisoner or Party grieved his Executors or Administrators against such Offenders his Executors or Administrators by any Action of Debt Suit Bill plaint or Information in any of the King's Courts at Westmin wherein no Essoign Protection priviledge Injunction Wager of Law or stay of Prosecution by Non vult ulterius prosequi or otherwise shall be Admitted or Allowed or any more than one Imparlance 4. And any Recovery or Judgment at the Suit of any Party Grieved shall be a sufficient Conviction for the first Offence and any after Recovery or Judgment at the suit of a Party Grieved for
any Offence after the first Judgment shall be a sufficient Conviction to Bring the Officers or Person within the said penalty for the second Offence 6. And for the prevention of unjust Vexation by Reiterated Commitments for the same 2. Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That no Person or Persons which shall be delivered or set at Large upon any Habeas Corpus shall at any time hereafter be again Imprisoned or Committed for the same Offence by any Person or Persons whatsoever other than by the Legal order and process of such Court wherein he or they shall be Bound by Recognizance to appear or other Court having Jurisdiction of the Cause 3. And if any other Person or Persons shall knowingly contrary to this Act Recommit or Imprison or knowingly procure or Cause to be Recommitted or Imprisoned for the same Offence or pretended Offence any Person or Persons delivered or set at Large as aforesaid or be knowingly aiding or Assisting therein then he or they shall forfeit to the Prisoner or Party Greived the sum of five hundred pounds any colourable pretence or variation in the Warrant or Warrants of Commitment notwithstandin to be Recovered as aforesaid 7. Provided alwayes and be it further Enacted That if any Person or Persons shall be Committed for High Treason or Felony Plainly and specially Expressed in the Warrant of Commitment upon his prayer or petition in open Court the first week of the Term or first day of the Sessions of Oyer and Terminer or General Gaol delivery to be Brought to his Tryal shall not be indicted sometime in the next Term Sessions of Oyer and Terminer or General Gaol delivery after such Commitment It shall and may be Lawful to and for the Judges of the Court of Kings Bench and Justices of Oyer and Terminer or General Gaol delivery and they are hereby Required upon motion to them made in open Court the last day of the Term Sessions or Gaol delivery either by the Prisoner or any one in his Behalf to set at Liberty the Prisoner upon Bail unless it appear to the Judges and Justices upon Oath made that the Witnesses for the King could not be produced the same Term Sessions or General Gaol delivery 2. And If any person or persons Committed as aforesaid upon his prayer or petition in open Court the first week of the Term or first day of the Sessions of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol delivery to be Brought to his Tryal shall not be Indicted and Tryed the second Term Sessions of Oyer and Terminer or General Gaol delivery after his Commitment or upon his Tryal shall be Acquitted he shall be discharged from his Imprisonment 8. Provided alwaies That nothing in this Act shall Extend to discharge out of prison any person charged in debt or other Action or with process in any Civil Cause but that after he shall be discharged of his Imprisonment for such his Criminal Offence he shall be kept in Custody according to Law for such other suit 9. Provided alwaies and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any person or persons subâ—ects of this Realm shall be Committed to any prison or in Custody of any Officer or Officers whatsoever for any Criminal or Supposed Criminal matter That the said person shall not be Removed from the said prison and custody into the custody of any other Officer or Officers 2. unless it be by Habeas Corpus or some other Legal writ or where the prisoner is delivered to the Constable or other Inferiour Officer to carry such prisoner to some common Gaol 3. or where any person is sent by â—rder of any Judge of Assize or Justice of the peace â—o any Common workhouse or house of Correction 4. or where the prisoner is Removed from one prion or place to another within the same County in order to his or her Tryal or discharge in due Course of Law 5. or in case of sudden fire or Infection â—r other Necessity 6. And if any person or persons â—hall after such Commitment aforesaid make out and â—ign or Countersign any Warrant or Warrants for â—uch Removal aforesaid contrary to this Act as well â—e that makes or signs or Countersigns such Warrant or Warrants as the Officer or Officers that obey or Execute the same shall suffer and Incur the pains and Forfeitures in this Act before-mentioned both for the first and second Offence Respectively to be Recovered in manner aforesaid by the party Grieved 10. Provided also and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That it shall and may be Lawful to and for any prisoner and prisoners as aforesaid to move and obtain his or their Habeas Corpus as well out of the High Court of Chancery or Court of Exchequer as out of the Courts of Kings Bench or common pleas or either of them 2. And if the said Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper or any Judge or Judges Baron or Barons for the time being of the degree of the Coif of any of the Courts aforesaid in the Vacation time upon view of the Copy or Copies of the Warant or Warants of Commitment or Detainer or upon Oath made that such Copy or Copies were denied as aforesaid shall deny any writ of Habeas Corpus by this Act Required to be Granted being moved for as aforesaid they shall severally Forfeit to the prisoner or party Grieved the sum of five hundred pounds to be Recovered in manner aforesaid 11. And Be it Enacted and declared by the Authority aforesaid That an Habeas Corpus according to the true Intent and meaning of this Act may be directed and Run into any County Palatine the Cinquâ—… ports or other priviledged places within the Kingdom of Engl. Dominion of Wales or Town of Berwick upon Tweed and the Isles of Jersey or Guernsey any Law or Usage to the Contrary notwithstanding 12. And for preventing Illegal Imprisonments in prisons beyond seas 2. Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That no subject of this Realm that now is or hereafter shall be an Inhabitant or Resiant of this Kingdom of England Dominion of Wales or Town of Berwick upon Tweed shall or may be sent prisoner into Scotland Ireland Jersey Guernsey Tangier or into any parts Garrisons Islands or places beyond the seas which are or at any time hereafter shall be within or without the Dominions of His Majesty His heirs or successours 3. And that every such Imprisonment is hereby Enacted and adjudged to be Illegal 4. and that If any of the said subjects now is or hereafter shall be so Imprisoned every such person and persons so Imprisoned shall and may for every such Imprisonment maintain by vertue of this Act an Action or Actions of false Imprisonment in any of his Majesties Courts of Record against the person or persons by whom he or she shall be so Committed detained Imprisoned sent prisoner or Transported Contrary to the true meaning of this Act and against all or any
thereby appears some of them did come to Church and heard divine Service to save the Penalties in the former Acts and yet continued Papists still in their hearts Therefore by this Act they were all to take the Sacrament once a year And if they refused they should forfeit 20 l. the 1st year for the 2d year 40 l. for every year afterwards 60l untill he or she have received the said Sacrament And by the 4th Section the Church Wardens and Constables are to present the monthly absence of all POPISH Recusants but they are not bound by this Act to present any but Papists For from this Act we may observe that none can be Prosecuted upon this Act or any of the other which it refers to which are all those here before rehearsed unless they be POPISH Recusants for so are the express words of the Act. And without doubt should any busy Officer whatsoever Present ot prosecute any person thereupon other than a Popish Recusant the person so presented may Joyn Issue that he is no such person as these Acts intend being not a Papist So that upon the whole matter we may conclude It is an abuse and utterly Illegall to Prosecute Protestants on such Laws as were made solely and wholly against Papists as will further appear in our next Observation and we have heard some Judges have declared so much However I shall here add the Judgment of the House of Commons in the Case for tho I know and own a vote of either or both Houses cannot Repeal a Law nor alter its sense yet certainly the House consisting of so many wise discreet persons a great number of them Excellently Learned in the Laws they are as like to Interpret a doubtful Law and hit upon the true Interpretation how far and to what it does extend as two or three little swaggering Justices or any single Judge At least were I an Officer I should rather incline to credit their opinion not run an hazard by employing the Toils made for restraining the Wolves and the Foxes to intangle destroy the Innocent sheep meerly because they do not all exactly tread in the very same steps and bite punctually all of one Sort of Grass Sabbati Sexto die Nov. 1680. Resolved Nemine contradicente That it is the opinion of this House That the Acts of Parliament made in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James against Popish Recusants ought not to be extended against Protestant dissenters And now having discharged these unlawful weapons let 's see what Legal Arms there are or have been really formed against the Sectaries And the first was the very sword of Goliah there was none like it 1. I mean the Act of 35 Eliz. Ca. 1. which some would make us believe has had as many Lives as a Cat intituled An Act to Retain the Queen's Majesties Subjects in their due Obedience This was the first Law that was made since the Reformation against those we commonly called Sectaries Conventiclers or Protestant Dissenters and this Act indeed beyond all dispute was made against them and them only for the Popish Recusants are expresly Excepted out of it as appears by the Act And that the Reader may better judge of the true difference between this Act and those others before recited made against Popish Recusants by the style and expressions I shall here insert the first Paragraph and give you the substance of the rest of it For the preventing and avoiding of such great Inconveniencies and Perils as might happen and grow by the wicked and dangerous practices of seditious Sectaries and disloyal Persons Be it Enacted by the Queen 's most Excellent Majesty and by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled and by the Authority of the same That if any person or persons above the Age of sixteen years which shall obstinately Refuse to Repair to some Church Chappel or usual place of Common-Prayer to hear Divine Service Established by Her Majesties Laws and Statutes in that behalf made and shall forbear to do the same by the space of one month next after without any lawful cause shall at any time after forty daies next after the End of this Session of Parliament by Printing Writing or Express Words or Speeches advisedly or purposely practise or go about to make or persuade any of Her Majesties Subjects or any other within her Highness's Realms or Dominions to deny withstand and impugn Her Majesties Power and Authority in cases Ecclesiastical United and Annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm or to that end or purpose shall advisedly or maliciously move or persuade any other person whatsoever to forbear or abstain from coming to Church to hear Divine Service or to Receive the Communion according to Her Majesties Laws and Statutes aforesaid or to come to or be present at any unlawful Assemblies Conventicles or Meetings under colour or pretence of any Exercise of Religion contrary to Her Majesties Laws and Statutes or if any person or persons which shall obstinately Refuse to Repair to some Church by the space of one month to hear Divine Service as is aforesaid shall after the said forty daies either of him or themselves or by the Motion Persuasion Inticement or Allurement of any other willingly Joyn in or be present at any such Assemblies Conventicles or Meeting under colour or pretence of any such Exercise of Religion contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm as is aforesaid That then every such person so offending as aforesaid and being thereof lawfully convicted shall be Committed to Prison and there to Remain without Bail or Mainprise until they shall Conform and yield themselves to come to some Church Chapel or usual place of Common-Prayer and hear Divine Service c. Then the Act goes on and provides That if the person do not Conform within three months after Conviction he should Abjure that is be Banisht and swear never to come back without leave And if he will not swear so then the same to be Felony without Benefit of Clergy From which Act these 3 things are observable 1. That the same was wholly intended against the Puritanes or Sectaries for the Papists are expresly exempted by a particular clause Sect. 12. in these words ' Provided that No Popish Recusant or Feme Covert shall be compelled or bound to abjure by vertue of this Act. 2. That Q. Eliz. and her wise Parliament did not intend or take such Protestant Recusants to be within the meaning of or punishable by the other before mentioned Statutes against popish Recusants For if they had so understood they might have punished them sufficiently on those old Laws without giving themselves the trouble of making this new Law against them Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora God and the Law do nothing in vain 3. If it be objected That all those Laws as well as this ought to be construed to one
Laws of the Kingdom A DIGRESSION touching the Antiquity Vse and Power of PARLIAMENTS and the Qualification of such Gentlemen as are fit to be chosen the Peoples Representatives THe Recital of these several Laws for frequent calling of Parliaments declaring the same to be of such Importance or Necessity to the safety and wel-being of the Nation Invites us to give the vulgar Reader some further Information touching those most Honourable Assemblies which though a digression will I hope be no Transgression for I am willing at any time to go a little out of my way provided I may thereby meet with the Readers profit and Advantage Of the Names and Antiquity of Parliaments THe word PARLIAMENT is French derived from the three words Parler la ment to speak ones mind because every Member of that Court should sincerely and discreetly speak his mind for the general good of the Common-Wealth and this name saith Cook 1 Instit fo 110. was used before William the Conquerer even in the time of Edward the Confessor But most commonly in the Saxons time it was called Michegemote or Witenage Mote that is the Great Mote Meeting or Assembly whence our Ward-Mootes in London receive their name to this day or the Wise-Moote that is the Assembly of the wise men and Sages of the Land But this word Parliament is used in a double sense 1. Strictly as it includes the Legislative Power of England as when we say An Act of Parliament and in this Acceptation it necessarily includes the King the Lords and the Commons each of which have a Negative Voice in making Laws and without their joint Consent no new Laws can pass that be obligatory to the Subject 2. Vulgarly the word is used for the Two Houses the Lords and Commons as when we say the King will call a Parliament his Majesty has Dissolved his Parliament c. The Lords of Parliament are divided into two sorts viz. Spiritual that is to say the Bishops who sit there in respect of their Baronies parcel of their Bishopricks which they hold in their Politick Capacity and Temporal The Commons are likewise divided into three Classes or parts viz Knights or Representatives of the Shires or Counties where note that though the Writ require two Knights to be chosen and that they are called Knights yet there is no necessity that they should actually have the degree of Knighthood provided they be but Gentlemen for the Statute 23 Hen. 6. cap 15 hath these words That the Knights of the Shires for the Parliament hereafter to be Chosen shall be not able Knights of the same Counties for which they shall be chosen OR OTHERWISE such Notable Esquires or Gentlemen born of the same Counties as shall be able to be Knights and no man to be such Knight which standeth in the degree of a Yeoman and under Secondly Citizens chosen to Represent Cities Thirdly Burgesses that is to say those that are chosen out of Boroughs Note that the difference between a City and a Borough is this a City is a Borough Incorporate which is or has within time of Memory been an Episcopal See or had a Bishop and this althô the Bishoprick be Dissolved as West minster having heretofore a Bishop though none now still remains a City Cook 1. Instit Sect 164. Boroughs are Towns Incorporated but such as never had any Bishops Of the Three Estates in Parliament THere has been a great debate about the Three Estates some zealously pleading That the Bishops are one of the three Estates of the Realm and the Lords Temporal a Second and the Commons-house the Third and the King over all as a Transcendent by himself Others as stifly deny this and assign the King as he his the Head of the Common Wealth to be the first Estate the Lords as well Spiritual as Temporal jointly to be the Second and the Commons-House the Third Non opis est nostrae tant as Componere Lites We shall not presume to undertake a decision of this arduous Controversy but in our poor opinion the matter seems to appear more difficult than really it is by means that the contending Parties do not first plainly set down what it is they severally mean by the word Estate Which may be taken 1. For a rank degree or Condition of Persons considered by themselves different in some notable Respects from others wherewith they may be compared And in this respect my Lords the Bishops may very properly be said to be an Estate or one of the Estates of the Realm for then there will be several Estates above the number of three for so in the House of Commons there may be said to be three Estates viz. Knights Citizens and Burgesses And heretofore in the days of Popery when there were 26 Abbots and Priors that held per Baroniam too as well as the Bishops called to the Parliament and sat in the Lords House see Fullers Church History Lib. 6. 292. Whether they being Religious and Monastical Persons whereas the Bishops were Seculars no small difference in their account might not as well claim to be a distinct Estate by themselves as now the Bishops do may be a question But secondly When we spake of three Estates in the Constitution of our English Government 't is most natural to mean and intend such a poize in the Ballance or such an Order or State as hath a Negative Voice in the Legislative Power For as the King and Commons excluding the Lords so neither the King and Lords excluding the Commons much less the Lords and Commons excluding the King can make any Law but this glorious Triplicity must be in mutual Conjunction and then from their united Influences spring our happy Laws But in this sence the Lords Spiritual by themselves have no pretence to be a distinct Estate That is they have by themselves no Negative Voice which I conceive the proper Characteristick or essential Mark of each of the three Estates For suppose a Bill pass the Commons and being brought into the Lords House all the 26 Bishops should be against it and some of the Temporal Lords yet if the other Temporal Lords be more in number than the Bishops and those that side with them the Bill shall pass as the Act of the whole house and if his Majesty please to give it his Royal Assent is undoubted Law Which demonstrates the Bishops have of themselves no Negative Voice and consequently are none of the three Estates of the Realm But if any will have them called an Estate and mean something else be it if he please to explain his Notion 't is like I shall not contend with him about a fiddle faddle word Touching the Power of the Parliament THe Jurisdiction of this Court saith Cook 1 Instit Sect. 164. is so Transcendent that it maketh Inlargeth Diminisheth Abrogateth Repealeth and reviveth Laws Statutes Acts and Ordinances concerning matters Ecclesiastical Civil Martial Marine Capital Criminal and common And 4 Instit Fol. 36.
The Power and Jurisdiction of the Parliament for making of Laws in proceeding by Bill is so transcendent and absolute as it cannot be confined either for Causes or Persons within any bounds Of this Court it is truely said Si Antiquitatem spectes est vetustissima si Dignitatem est Honoratissima si Jurisdictionem est capacissima if you regard its Original it is most Antient if its Dignity it is most Honourable if its Jurisdiction it is most Capacious Sir Thomas Smith a great Statesman and in high esteem and place under Queen Elizabeth in his Treatise de Republica Anglorum L. 2. Ca. 2. gives this Character of this supream Court In Commitiis Parliamentariis posita est omnis Augustae absolutaeque potestatis vis veteres leges jubent esse irritas novas inducunt Presentibus juxta ac futuris modum constituunt Jura possessiones hominum privatorum commutant Spurios natalibus restituunt cultum divinum sanctionibus corroborant Pondera mensuras variant JUS IN REGNO SVCCEDENDI PRESCRIBVNT c. The most high and absolute power of the Realm of England consisteth in the Parliament for the Parliament abrogateth old Laws maketh new giveth order for things past and for things hereafter to be followed changeth the rights and possessions of private men Legitimateth Bastards Corroborates Religion with Civil Sanctions Alters weights and Measures PRESCRIBES THE RIGHT OF SVCCESSION TO THE CROWN defines doubtfull Rights where there is no Law already made Appointeth Subsidies Taxes and Impositions giveth most Free pardons restoreth in Blood and Name c. As for the power of Parliaments over both Statute and Common Law take it in the Accurate and Significant words of a Parliament viz. the Statute of 25 Hen. 8. Ca. 21 as follows Whereas this Realm Recognizing no superiour under God but the King hath been and is free from Subjection to any mans Laws but only to such as have been devised made and ordained within this Realm for the wealth thereof or to such other as the people of this Realm have taken at their free Liberty by their own consent to be used amongst them and have bound themselves by long use and Custome to the observance of the same not to the observance of the Laws of any Forreign Prince Potentate or Prelate but as to the accustomed and Ancient Laws of this Realm originally established as Laws of the same by the said Sufferance Consents and Custom and none otherwise It standeth therefore with natural Equity and good Reason that all and every such Laws Humane made within this Realm or induced into this Realm by the said Sufferance Consents and Custom the King and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Representing the whole State of the Realm in the most High Court of Parliament have full Power and Authority to dispouse with those and all other Humane Laws of the Realm and with every one of them as the quality of the Persons and matter shall require And also the said Laws and every of them to abrogate annull amplify or diminish as to the King Nobles and Commons of the Realm present in Parliament shall seem most meet and convenient for the Wealth of the Realm Thus far that notable Statute which in truth is only Declarative and in Affirmance of the Ancient Common Law of England The particular Business of Parliaments BY what hath been said you may perceive the work of an English Parliament is not as some would have it only to be Keys to unlock the peoples Purses That is but one part and perhaps one of the least parts too of their Office They are to propose new Laws that are wanting for general good and to press the Abrogation of Laws in being when the Execution of them is found prejudicial or dangerous to the publick They are to provide for Religion and the Safety and Honour of the Nation they have a power as you have heard from Sir Thomas Smith to order the Right to the Crown understand all this with the Kings consent and they have very frequently undertaken and actually Limited the same contrary to and different from the Common Line of Succession Nay by the Statute of the 13 Eliz. Cap 13. It is expresly Enacted That if any Person shall in any wise hold and affirm or maintain that the Queen with and by the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to Limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof or that this present Statute or any part thereof or any other Statute to be made by the Authority of the Parliament of England with the Royal Assent for Limiting the Crown is not are not or shall not or ought not to be for ever of good and sufficient Force and validity to bind limit restrain and Govern all Persons their Rights and Titles that in any wise may or might claim any Interest or Possibility in or to the Crown of England in Possession Remainder Inheritance Succession or otherwise howsoever and all other Persons whatsoever every Person so holding affirming or maintaining during the Life of the Queen shall be adjudged an high Traitor and suffer and forfeit as in Casts of High Treason is accustomed and every Person so holding affirming or maintaining after the dâ—câ—ase of our said Sovereign Lady shall forfeit all 〈◊〉 Good and Chattels Which Clause and last mentioned Penalty is to this Day in force and ought to be considered by any who shall now pretend that an Act of Parliament cannot dispose of the Succession As for the Right of making War and Peace the same is gramted to be part of the High Prerogatives of our Kings yet the wisest of our Monarchs have very rarely entred into any War without the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Parliaments for 1. Who could give them better Counsel in such a difficult Affair 2. The People would more readily expose their Persons in such a War the Justice and Expediency whereof was approved by their Representatives 3. The King from thence might more certainly promise himself supplies of Money to carry on the same But nothing is more properly the work of a Parliament than to redress Grievances To take notice of Monopolies and oppressions to Curb the Exorbitances of pernicious Favourites and ill Ministers of State To punish such mighty Delinquents as look upon themselves too big for the ordinary reach of Justice to inspect the Conduct of such as are intrusted with Administration of the Laws or disposal of the publick Treasure of the Nation All Crimes of these and the like kinds are publick Nusances common mischiefs and wound the whole Body politick in a vital part and can scarce at all be sound out or Redressed by reason of the power and Influence of the Offenders but in this great and awful Senate before whom the haughtiest Criminals tremble and it has been observed that they scarce ever Prosecuted any though never so